DANBURY -- The Danbury Whalers had an answer for everything the Cape Cod Bluefins could throw at them on Saturday night.

Max Mobley scored two third-period goals -- each one coming immediately following a Cape Cod goal -- as the Whalers notched a 5-3 victory in front of about 2,000 fans at the Danbury Arena.

The Whalers led 3-0 heading into the third period, but the Bluefins refused to go quietly. Each time they pounded away at the Danbury lead, however, Mobley and the Whalers pounded right back.

While he was pleased with his team's ability to respond, coach Phil Esposito would've been more satisfied if his Whalers hadn't put themselves in that position in the first place.

"My goal tonight was to put this team away early and punish them for the rest of the 60 minutes," Esposito said. "We didn't really do that and we let them back in the game later on. I realize as the coach, especially with the team we have this year, that we're a young team with a lot of rookies. But these guys need to learn how to start putting the nail in the coffin and start putting teams away. We need to learn how to play at one level and stay up at that level at all times, game after game after game."

After a scoreless first period, the Whalers exploded for three goals in the second period to take a commanding lead. Gentry Zollars broke the ice at 8:35, wristing one home from the point on the power play off assists from Toms Tilla and Kamil Vavra. Cape Cod's Casey Mignone was in the box serving a two-minute high-sticking penalty after his stick clipped Vavra in the face.

John Goffredo made it 2-0 at 11:00 of the second period off a pass from Tyler Noseworthy on the power play. The Bluefins' Luke Frey was serving a two-minute slashing penalty at the time.

Julian Fraser made it 3-0 with an even-strength goal at 18:33. He banged home the rebound of a shot by Vavra. Leland Fidler also assisted. On the ensuing faceoff, Fraser fought with Cape Cod's Jeff Dill.

Ian McLachlan put the Bluefins on the board 1:41 into the third period to cut the deficit to 3-1. Mobley responded with a goal just 1:24 later off passes from Adam Houli and Goffredo. Mignone scored on a 2-on-1 break at 7:09 of the third period, and Mobley answered again, this time 1:07 later off passes from Houli and Carlo Ricci.

The Whalers got a little careless with the puck in their own end in the waning minutes and Matthew Harrington made them pay with a power-play goal with 1:05 to go. Vavra was in the box for his elbow on Mignone.